This book contains a brief yet documented narrative of an incident that took place in Karbala’’, Iraq, in 61 A.H. (After Hijra, or Hegira)/680 A.D. It has stamped the history of the Muslim nation ever since, and it will continue to do so till the reappearance of the Awaited One, the Mahdi from among the offspring of Prophet Muhammad. It refers to a revolution against tyranny and oppression led by Imam al-Husayn son of Imam Ali ibn [son of] Abu [father of] Talib and grandson of Prophet Muhammad.

Notice:

This version is published on behalf of www.alhassanain.org/english

The composing errors are not corrected.

Table of Contents

Dedication 9

Note 10

Publisher’s Preface 11

Prologue: Eternal Struggle Between Right And Wrong 15

Introduction 16

Part 1: Husayn And His Foes, Martyrdom 19

Abu Sufyan 19

Mu’awiyah and Yazid 19

Ali, Husayn’s Father 24

Imam Husayn Son of Imam Ali 29

Islam’s Message to Humanity 33

Origins of Deviation 34

Falsification of Hadith and Distortion of The Sunna 34

Yazid Appointed as Supreme Ruler 38

The Noble Motives Behind Imam Husayn’s Revolution 40

The Revolution’s Process 41

Husayn in Mecca 42

Muslim Swears Oath of Allegiance for Husayn 44

Hani Ibn Urwah 46

Muslim’s Uprising 47

Al-Mukhtar Jailed 48

Muslim at the House of Taw'a 49

Muslim Meets Ibn Ziyad 50

Qasr Muqatil 54

The Kufian Hosts 55

Efforts to Secure Water 56

Conditional Respite Granted 56

Another Confrontation at Watering Place 56

Firm Resolution 57

Love and Devotion 57

Ashura 58

The First Lady Martyr 61

Al-Abbas is Martyred 62

Martyrdom of The Imam 62

Husayn’s Horse 65

Al-Husayn Marauded 66

Notes 67

Part 2: A Summary of Post-Martyrdom Events 68

The Steed 69

The Severed Heads 69

Leaving Karbala’ 70

At Kufa 72

Zainab’s Speech 73

Fatima Delivers a Speech 74

As-Sajjad Delivers a Speech 78

The Burial 80

At The Governer’s Mansion 82

Al-Mukhtar At-Thaqafi 85

The Sacred Head Speaks 87

Al-Ashdaq 88

Abdullah Ibn Ja’far 90

The Captives Taken to Syria 90

In Syria 92

Husayn’s Severed Head 97

A Syrian Encounters Fatima 98

Zainab Delivers Another Speech 99

At The House of Ruin 101

Back to Medina 102

The Severed Head Rejoins Body 104

The Arba’een 105

In Medina 109

Notes 112

Part 3: The Revolution’s Outcome 125

The Harra Incident 126

What Happened in Mecca? 129

Al-Husayn’s Grave 132

Performing Ziyarat to Husayn’s Shrine 138

Notes 140

Part 4: Husayn’s Successors - Nine Infallible Imams 142

1) Imam Ali Ibn Al-Husayn Zain Al-Abidin (as) 142

2) Imam Muhammad Al-Baqir (as) 151

3) Imam Ja’far As-Sadiq (as) 159

4) Imam Musa Al-Kadhim (as) 165

5) Imam ‘Ali Ar-Rida’ (as) 171

6) Imam Muhammad At-Taqi (as) 241

7) Imam ‘Ali An-Naqi (as) 247

8) Imam Hassan Al-'Askari (as) 253

9) The Awaited One, Imam Al-Mahdi (as) 258

Notes 269

Conclusion 273

Notes 278

Appendix: Arabic Poems Eulogizing Imam Husayn’s Martyrdom 280

Glossary of Islamic Terms 313

ا،أ، آ، ع , A 314

ب , B 319

The Basmala as Portrayed in Early and Medieval Islamic Sources 321

A Grammatical Breakdown and Exegetical Explanation of the Basmala 322

Origin of the Attribute ar-Rahman 325

د، ذ , D 328

ع , E 331

ف , F 332

Some mysteries about Surat al-Fatiha 338

Notes 359

غ , G, Gh 361

Prophet’s Historic Ghadir Sermon 364

ح،ه H, 389

إ،ع , I 397

The 14 Infallibles 401

After The Prophet’s Demise 405

Property of Fadak 405

Digression: Jews of Medina 406

Khutba of Fatima Zahra (as) Demanding Fadak 407

Fatima Further Oppressed 421

Fatima’s Death 422

What is Fatima’s Mushaf? 429

Mushaf’s Contents 430

The Imams (ع ) and Fatima’s Mushaf 431

Is Fatima’s Mushaf The Holy Qur’an? 432

ج , J 435

ك،خ K, Kh, 439

ل , L 448

م , M 449

ن , N 489

P 491

ق , Q 492

ر , R 494

س،ص , S 498

ت، ط، ذ , T 523

أ، ع , U 530

و , W 531

ز،ض، ظ , Z 532

Dedication

اللــهمـ صـــلِ عــلى محـــمـــد وآل محمد

السلام على الشيب الخضيب

السلام على الخد التريب

السلام على البدن السليب ، السلام على الثغر المقروع بالقضيب

السلام على الرأس المرفوع

السلام على الاجسام العارية في الفلوات

السلام على المرمل بالدماء

السلام على المهتوك الخباء

السلام على خامس أصحاب الكساء السلام على غريب الغرباء

السلام على شهيد الشهداء

السلام على قتيل الأدعياء

السلام على ساكن كربلاء

السلام على من بكته ملائكة السماء

السلام عليك يا أبا عبد الله

O Allah! Bless Muhammad and the progeny of Muhammad

Peace with the blood-drench gray hair. Peace with the dust-covered cheek. Peace with the marauded body. Peace with the mouth beaten with the rod. Peace with the head raised [atop a spear].

Peace with the bodies exposed in the plains. Peace with the one covered with blood. Peace with the one whose privacy was violated. Peace with the fifth of the Fellows of the Covering Sheet.

Peace with the stranger of all strangers. Peace with the martyr of all martyrs. Peace with the one killed by the da’is1
. Peace with the one who resides in Karbala’.

Peace with the one mourned by the angels of the heavens. Peace with you, O Father of Abdullah…

اللهم صلي على محمد و آل محمد

السلام على الشيب الخضيب

السلام على الخد التريب

السلام على البدن السليب

السلام على الثغر المقروع بالقضيب

السلام على الرأس المرفوع

السلام على الاجسام العارية في الفلوات

السلام على المرمل بالدماء

السلام على المهتوك الخباء

السلام على خامس أصحاب الكساء السلام على غريب الغرباء

السلام على شهيد الشهداء

Note

1. For meanings of Islamic terms, refer to the Glossary at the end of this book.

Publisher’s Preface

In the Name of Allah, the most Gracious, the most Merciful

This is the U.S. edition of the third of eight books written so far by Yasin T. al-Jibouri, and hopefully the reader will eventually read the others as well. The first was Fast of the Month of Ramadan: Philosphy and Ahkam, and the second was his best book yet titled Allah: the Concept of God in Islam, and we pray there will be many more! Since the reader is most likely interested in knowing who the author is, we would like to state the following:

Al-Jibouri was born on August 14, 1946 in Baghdad, Iraq, and he lived most of his life in the holy city of al-Kadhimiyya (Kadhimain) where he presently is living. In 1969, he graduated from the College of Arts, Baghdad University, where he majored in English which he taught at a high school in Babylon (Hilla) then at a vocational institute in al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia, from which he flew in 1972 to the United States in order to pursue his Graduate degree which he earned in 1978.

In the Winter of 1973, he founded the Islamic Society of Georgia, Inc. and started in January of 1974 editing and publishing its newsletter Islamic Affairs which evolved from a four-page newsletter to a twelve-page bulletin, becoming the most widely circulated Shi'a publication in the United States with readers in all the 50 U.S. States and in 67 countries world-wide.

In 1975, al-Jibouri received instructions to facilitate the entry to the United States of the very first representative of the then Supreme Ayatullah Abul-Qasim al-Khoei, may Allah reward him, in North America, namely Shaikh Muhammad Sarwar of Quetta, Pakistan. Due to the sponsorship of the author, Sarwar did, indeed, arrive at the U.S. on January 25, 1976; a few days later, the Shaikh became al-Jibouri’s roommate. A few months later, the Shaikh moved from Atlanta to New York where there has been a much larger Shi'a population.

Al-Jibouri not only writes his books, but he also typesets them and often designs their covers as well. He developed a passion for computers, hardware and software, and in March of 1988, he obtained a Certificate with honours from N.R.I. of Washington, D.C., in microcomputers and microprocessors and later added to it three more Certificates in electronics and programming, including advanced programming. Putting that knowledge together, he wrote more than a hundred dBASE programs in order to accommodate his extensive and sophisticated mailing list and those of others, proving that we all ought to put modern technology at the service of Islam and Muslims.

Presently, he is working as a full-time reporter while studying to be an Oracle Developer and Database Administrator, and he hopes to spend the last years of his life designing web-sites for various Shi'a organizations throughout the world that utilize the Internet to get their message across. Indeed, the Internet is the wave of the future. It provides us with the fastest and cheapest way of communication and advertising as well as publicizing for our faith.

The author has edited and revised three English translations of the Holy Qur’an by: 1) S.V. Mir Ahmed Ali, 2) A. Yusuf Ali, and 3) M.H. Shakir. He also edited and typeset several newsletters and magazines, including Middle East Business Magazine of which he became Senior Editor. Among the other books which he edited are: Socio-Economic Justice with Particular Reference to Nahjul-Balagha by Dr. S.M. Waseem, and A Biography of Leaders of Islam by Sayyid Ali Naqi Naqwi, English translation by Dr. Sayyid Nazir Hassan Zaidi.

He also edited 14 pamphlets for the youths titled The Fourteen Infallibles which were published in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1419 A.H./1998 A.D. and which were originally written by M.N. Sultan. They are very professionally produced pamphlets that employ pictorial narratives and an easy and flowing style, and they ought to be in the possession of each and every Muslim family raising children and caring for the youths.

The Author has also translated five other books where his name as the Translator was omitted for selfish reasons; these are: 1) Best Month, Best Night; 2) The Book of Istikhara; 3)Weapon of the Prophets; 4) Miracles of the Holy Qur’an and 5) The Great Names of Allah.

So far, the list of the books which he has written includes the following titles arranged chronologically according to their completion but not necessarily the date of publication: 1) Memoirs of a Shi'a Missionary in America: Two Decades of Dawah (his auto-biography which details his experience in Islamic work in the U.S.), 2) Fast of the Month of Ramadan: Philosophy and Ahkam, 3) Mary and Jesus in Islam, 4) Allah: the Concept of God in Islam, 5) Muhammad: Prophet and Messenger of Allah, 6) The Ninety-Nine Attributes of Allah, 7) Karbala’’ and Beyond (this book), and 8) Ghadir Khumm: Where Islam was Perfected.

In 1980, when Imam Muhammad Baqir as-Sadr was martyred, al-Jibouri shifted his attention to politics, putting out several pamphlets, circulars, letters to the news media and two newsletters, Islamic Revival and Rafidain News. Islamic Revival was dedicated to the Islamic liberation movements throughout the Muslim world in general and in Iraq in particular, and it strongly supported the Islamic Revolution in Iran which was being viciously attacked and distorted by some anti-Islamic racist and hateful news media in the U.S. and throughout the West.

Al-Jibouri is a well known translator, and he is the very first person ever to translate the works of the Martyr Ayatullah Sayyid Muhammad Baqir as-Sadr, the greatest economist, philosopher, author and political figure in the modern history of Iraq, such as: A General Outlook at Rituals (which was printed in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, in 1979), Contemporary Man and the Social Problem (which was also published in Tehran in 1980), The General Bases of Banking in the Muslim Society (which was published in Maryland, U.S.A., in 1981), and What Do You Know About Islamic Economics? which was published by the Imamia Center of Lanham, Maryland, U.S.A., in the month of Ramadan 1410 A.H./April 1990 A.D. Al-Jibouri twice published his translation titled A General Outlook at Rituals here in the U.S., getting their latest registered with the Library of Congress of Washington, D.C.

He also translated and/or published many other titles; among them are: A Biography of Muhammad Baqir as-Sadr, The Form of Islamic Government and Wilayat al-Faqeeh, About the World Political Situation from a Muslim’s Viewpoint, and Our Faith. The latter work is written by Sayyid Muhammad Husayn al-Jalali, a famous scholar, researcher, critic and theologian presently living in Chicago, Illinois. Other works he translated are: A Biography of Imam ar-Rida (by the late Shaikh Muhammad Jawad Fadlallah, older brother of famous theologian and political leader Shaikh Muhammad-Husayn Fadlallah); this book was published in the United Kingdom, Al-Murajaat: A Shii-Sunni Dialogue (by Sharifud-Deen Sadr ad-Deen al-Masawi; this book was published in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1415 A.H./1995 A.D. and had previously been translated and published under the title The Right Path); it later was published by Ansariyan in Qum, Iran, first in 2001 then reprinted in 2005 and its fourth edition was reprinted in 2008 and is presently receiving world-wide circulation through the marketing of international booksellers in the United States and Europe, Shi'as are the Ahl as-Sunnah (by Dr. Muhammad at-Tijani as-Samawi; this book was published in New York in 1996 in New York by Vantage Press and is available for sale on the Internet from both Amazon Books and Barnes and Noble Books, and its ISBN number is: 0-533-12055-1 and the reader is strongly urged to get his/her own copy of it; its first copies were sold “like hot cakes;” therefore, Vantage Press had to reprint it a number of times till the present), and Maqtal al-Husayn by the late Abd ar-Razzaq al-Muqarram, which is the major reference utilized for the writing of this book.

Al-Jibouri has also written numerous essays and articles dealing with various themes. Most of them were published in more than one publication, whereas he circulated the others on his own throughout the U.S. and abroad. Several of his articles were published in Islamic Monitor, a fairly short-lived top quality magazine (lived for less than 3 years) which used to be published in Washington, D.C. Among such articles carried the following headings: “An Interview with Professor Fazlallah Reza” (once chancellor of the University of Tehran, Ambassador at Paris to the United Nation’s UNESCO and Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Canada), “Violation of Women’s Rights in Saudi Arabia,” “Bahrain: A Shameful Human Rights Record,” “The Drug Epidemic,” and many others. Some of his political writings appeared in Echo of Islam. His other writings also appeared in Mahjubah magazine of Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, and in Jafari Observer magazine of Bombay, India, and elsewhere.

Yasin T. al-Jibouri is discussed in detail by Prof. Larry Poston in his book Islamic Dawah in the West: Muslim Missionary Activity and the Dynamics of Conversion to Islam (New York, United States, and Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 1992; ISBN No. 0-19-507227-8). One of the essays which he wrote and circulated is an extensive, thorough and extremely well researched rebuttal to Samuel P. Huntington’s famous article “The Clash of Civilizations?” which appeared in Foreign Affairs magazine in the Summer of 1993. His rebuttal is actually a laborious research which exhausted two weeks of his time and many sleepless nights and is dated October 26, 1993.

Thanks are due to Sr. Zeinab Donati for her effort to prepare this book’s manuscript for publication. Her suggestions and input have been invaluable, and may she be richly rewarded on behalf of all those who will benefit from this book. May the Almighty assist all of us and keep our feet firm on His Right Path, Assirat al-Mustaqeem, Allahomma Aameen.

Prologue: Eternal Struggle Between Right And Wrong

This is a tale of an ongoing struggle between right and wrong, truth and falsehood, piety and impiety, worldliness and spirituality. Such struggles take place in our life each and every day on different scales. Other religions, too, have immortalized the struggle between right and wrong: the struggle of Rama against Ravana, the contest between Moses, peace be with him, and Pharaoh, the challenge of Abraham, peace be with him, to Nimrud, the contest of Jesus Christ, peace be with him, against Herod...

All these are examples of the contest, the struggle, the ongoing war, between right and wrong, truth and falsehood. Falsehood appears to the eyes of most people as being very strong, armed with material power. It has the authority of the ruling government, of the veto at the "U.N. Security Council," of the awe of military might, the carriers and the cruise missiles, the satellites and the spy planes, the lackeys and the stooges, the silver and the gold, and the numerical superiority... Its ostentatious grandeur and splendour cannot be denied, nor can its glittering crowns, thrones studded with gems, palaces and dazzling swords...

And the truth! The humble truth! The meek and weak truth!

It appears helpless, handicapped, powerless... But the truth possesses the vigor of faith, the reliance on the Almighty God, and the precious asset of spiritual power. These armaments of the truth are so powerful, they smash the head of falsehood, reducing its splendour and grandeur to dust. Truth, in the end, triumphs, achieving success so splendidly that the world is awe-stricken thereat...

Such is the epic of heroism recorded on the pages of history not with the ink of the writers but with the blood of the martyrs. Such is each and every epic of heroism... Such is the epic of martyrdom of Imam al-Husayn (ﻉ ).

اللهم أرزقنا شفاعة الحسين

Introduction

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

This book contains a brief yet documented narrative of an incident that took place in Karbala’’, Iraq, in 61 A.H. (After Hijra, or Hegira)/680 A.D. It has stamped the history of the Muslim nation ever since, and it will continue to do so till the reappearance of the Awaited One, the Mahdi from among the offspring of Prophet Muhammad (ﺹ ). It refers to a revolution against tyranny and oppression led by Imam al-Husayn (ﻉ ) son of Imam Ali ibn [son of] Abu [father of] Talib (ﻉ ) and grandson of Prophet Muhammad (ﺹ ).

The confrontation left a lone male survivor from Imam al-Husayn’s camp: Imam al-Husayn’s son Ali, titled "as-Sajjad," the one who quite often prostrates to Allah, and also "Zain al-Abidin," the best of worshippers of Allah. He later became the fourth in the series of the Twelve Infallible Imams (ﻉ ). His offspring migrated to north Africa where they founded the Fatimide caliphate that lasted from 296 - 566 A.H./909 - 1171 A.D.

Having conquered Egypt in 358 A.H./969 A.D., they built Cairo in order to make it their capital and founded in the next year the al-Azhar mosque and university. The latter was founded by caliph “al-Muizz li Deenillah,” Abu Tameem Maadd ibn al-Mansur who was born in 319 A.H./931 A.D. and died in 365 A.H./975 A.D.; he ruled from 341 A.H./953 A.D. till his death.

The bloody confrontation between Husayn’s tiny group of family members and supports and the huge army raised according to orders issued by the ruler of his time, namely Yazid “son” of Mu'awiyah , which is referred to in history books as the Taff Battle, started on the first day of Muharram, 61 A.H.October 4, 680 A.D. and ended ten days later with the barbaric killing of Imam al-Husayn (ﻉ ) and all males with him__with the exception of his ailing son referred to above, namely Ali__, including his infant Abdullah, who was six months old and who was shot with an arrow in the neck.

Imam al-Husayn (ﻉ ) was pleading to those folks to give Abdullah some water to drink. Imam al-Husayn (ﻉ ) and his small band were not permitted to the end to have access to the water of the Euphrates that lied a short distance from their camp. This reveals the extent of cruelty of those who fought Imam al-Husayn (ﻉ ) and his small band of supporters, the brave defender of principles and the reformer of the nation that he was, the man whom the Prophet on many occasions praised and honoured as one of the Masters of the Youths of Paradise, the other Master being his older brother Hassan (ﻉ ).

Imam al-Husayn’s body was trampled under the hoofs of the soldiers’ horses and his head was cut off, placed on top of a spear and paraded before his women and children, who were all tied and chained as captives and conveyed in the most cruel manner the entire distance from Karbala’’, as the Taff area came to be called, to Damascus, Syria, seat of the Umayyad tyrant Yazid “son” of Mu'awiyah ibn Abu Sufyan.

The heads of the other heroes who fought on Imam al-Husayn’s side were also cut off and paraded in the same manner as trophies although Islam does not permit the mutilation of anyone’s body, be he a Muslim or a non-Muslim. Little did those killers care to know about Islam, and the same can be said about those who refrain from condemning them and who, thus, share in the burden of sins those killers shall bear on the Day of Judgment.

The primary sources of this book are: Maqtal al-Husayn by Abdul-Razzaq al-Masawi al-Muqarram, and Tarikh al-Umam wal Mulak by Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Jarar at-Tabari (better known as Tarikh at-Tabari). Several secondary references, in Arabic and English, have been consulted and are cited in elaborate footnotes.

It is hoped that this book will open the eyes of new Muslim converts in the West in general and here in the U.S. in particular so that they may see the other side of the coin. Most of them were not taught Islamic history because, in most likelihood, it would indict their mentors. It is also hoped that such converts will realize the pitfalls of little knowledge which is surely a dangerous thing.

There is a story behind every book. This one is no exception. As of the date of writing this Introduction (Shawwal 1419 A.H./February 1999), Northern Virginia Muslims who love and revere Imam Husayn (ﻉ ) do not have a place of their own where they can assemble to commemorate the Karbala’’ tragedy, the greatest of all; therefore, they have to meet here and there, mostly at homes and apartments of their brethren who can accommodate them.

The most prominent of such dedicated brethren have been: Hamzah ash-Shawwaf (nicknamed Abu Muhammad-Ali), Abdul-Muhsin as-Sa’igh (Abu Abdul-Aziz), and Ahmed al-Haddad (Abu Abdullah). These brethren have always opened their homes and hearts to all those who cherish the memory of Imam Husayn (ﻉ ) and of all other Imams belonging to the Prophet’s Progeny, “Ahl al-Bayt,” peace and blessings of Allah be upon all of them. During the past commemoration (Muharram 1419/May 1998), an Azari brother named Salashour who runs a rug store tried his best to make us feel at home, permitting us to use the premises of his business for the first ten days of the month of Muharram.

It was there and then that another very dedicated brother named Ja'far Madan suggested that I write a few pages in English about the martyrdom of Imam Husayn (ﻉ ) in order to circulate them on the Internet. Alhamdu-Lillah, both I and he did what we promised. Then Br. Madan asked me whether I would consider turning those few pages into a book for the American and Europrean readers. We liked the idea.

You see, a good word, a wise suggestion, is like a seed; if it finds the right soil, it will shoot roots and sprout, and soon a seed becomes a tree bearing fruit, and the fruit carry seeds that will eventually be sowed, and they, too, will set roots, sprout and bear fruit..., and so on. May the Almighty bless and reward our dear brother Ja'far Madan for his suggestion, and may He bless all other dedicated brethren like him. May He forever guide our steps to what He loves and prefers, Allahomma AAameen.

As the Dedication suggests, the publication of this book has been made possible by the generosity of a number of such dedicated lovers of Imam al-Husayn (ﻉ ), and of his Ahl al-Bayt (ﻉ ), and who reside in metropolitan Washington, D.C., and elsewhere. The author apologizes if some of the photographs are not of good quality. May the Almighty reward all those who brought this book to light and who circulate it and help others benefit from it with the very best of His rewards in the life of this world and in the hereafter, Allahomma AAameen.